AI is a powerful tool. Whether you use ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or any other model, you can accomplish a lot with AI. But it comes with many concerns, not the least of which is the idea of AI going rogue. Plus, data centers create environmental issues.
For all the good AI can do (and has already done), it could also cause terrible things. And according to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in an interview with Decoded by POLITICO, "the world should accept some bad things happening" as a result of AI. Maybe that's easy enough to accept as the CEO of one of the world's largest AI companies, but for me, a writer whose livelihood is constantly under threat of being stolen by AI, it's a little harder to shrug off.
And job loss could be minor compared with other risks AI experts suggest. According to MIT's AI Risk Initiative, "18 of 24 risks have more than a 10% chance of causing catastrophic outcomes." Those risks "could include more than one million deaths, more than $100 billion in financial losses, or other harms."
Yeah, we should probably just accept those so we can shave some time off our workflows each day.
What did Sam Altman say?
The full quote from Sam Altman is: “I think there’s a lot of daylight. We believe that the world should accept some bad things happening for the benefits of this technology and people having the agency.”
"People will do tremendously — orders of magnitude more — good stuff than bad stuff.”
Sam Altman, OpenAI CEO
He also spoke on a more central AI structure to prevent bad things from happening: “I disagree, but I understand the perspective of people who are like, ‘This technology is going to get so powerful, and it’s so dangerous, that a single lab in San Francisco should have it and make sure nothing bad happens, and kind of figure out how to dole out the benefits," said Altman.
But Altman's not just saying a bunch of bad stuff is going to happen and that we're doomed to accept it. He believes that by keeping a lighter AI regulation stance, "people will do tremendously — orders of magnitude more — good stuff than bad stuff.”
Altman also doesn't buy into “the really catastrophic risks,” including the potential for “a serious loss of control to AI.” Obviously, I want him to be right, and I love how much AI can streamline things, but I'm also not willing to take one person's idea about the "catastrophic risks" as fact.
Only time will tell whether we'll have to confront AI-related catastrophic risks. In a perfect world, everyone would work less as AI takes over boring, repetitive tasks and the cost of goods drops substantially due to efficiency.
But we don't live in a perfect world, so I'm not willing to just accept the "bad things happening" without scrutiny.
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